John Young was a member of the Parliament of Canada

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

.

Early life

Young was born in Ayr

Ayr

Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. His family had no particular social position or money. His father William was a cooper by trade.
He was able to qualify for a very fine school, Ayr Academy

Ayr Academy

Ayr Academy is a non-denominational secondary school situated in the centre of the town of Ayr in South Ayrshire. It is a comprehensive school for children from the ages of 11 to 18 from Ayr. Ayr Academy's catchment area covers Newton-on-Ayr, Whitletts and the outlying villages of Coylton, Annbank,...

. That school boasts a number of distinguished graduates including the poet Robbie Burns and the inventor James Watt

James Watt

James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...

. The formal education of John Young ended when he was only 14. He left Ayr Academy to become a teacher at a small country school in the nearby village of Coylton. After only a year of teaching he came to Canada in 1826 at the age of 15.

His early life in Canada began in Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, where he was employed by a company in the import/export business. Despite his youth and lack of formal education he was very successful. It appears that the energy, determination, and the supreme self-confidence that were to characterize his later career were already evident.

Beliefs

The Torrence firm, Young's employer, moved him to Montreal in 1830. After a few years he was made co-partner with David Torrance, the son of the owner. In addition to the import/export business, the Torrance family had interests in the steamboat business operating on the St. Lawrence between Montreal and Quebec City. This involvement with merchandise trade and shipping were the foundation of Young's lifelong passion for improved transportation.

Young believed that the future of Montreal as the pre-eminent commercial centre in North America could be attained by improved access by rail and water.

With that objective he laboured and fought for:

• The deepening of the shipping channel in the St. Lawrence river east of Montreal
• The construction of the Victoria Bridge
  Victoria Bridge
  Victoria Bridge may be a reference to:Crossings* Royal Victoria Dock Bridge, a footbridge across the Royal Victoria Dock near the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London, England* Victoria Bridge, Bath, a cable-stayed bridge over the River Avon in Bath, England...
  
  
• The development of canal systems
• The construction of numerous railway lines

In order to attain maximum benefit for Montreal as a commercial centre and as a port, he believed that this improved transportation network must be coupled with the concept of free-trade with the United States.

Many of these ideas were strongly opposed by the Montreal business elite. By reason of his business success, Young was part of that elite, but he was always a bit of an outsider and consider a maverick by many in the "establishment."

Young lived at a time when ideas were held with conviction and strongly debated in public. Sometimes people got “carried away.” In 1847, John Young was part of a group of Montreal businessmen involved in a pistol duel. Shots were exchanged but nobody was killed.

Young was successful in business and by about 1850 was able to build a rather magnificent home called Rosemount of the southern slope of the Westmount Mountain. The house is still standing near the corner of Mountain Ave. and Severn. In his Rosemount home, Young had a very large, oversized, wire-backed armchair. It is believed that this chair was reserved for the ample frame of Cure Labelle when he came to discuss the building of the railway to serve St. Jerome and the Laurentians. The chair is now property of his great-great-granddaughter.

Politics

John Young took an active interest in politics where his belief in free trade dictated that he be a Rouge in the Liberal Party of LaFontaine. He was elected to the 4th

4th Parliament of the Province of Canada

The 4th Parliament of the Province of Canada was in session from 1852 to June 1854. Elections were held in the Province of Canada in October 1851...

 and 5th Parliament

5th Parliament of the Province of Canada

The 5th Parliament of the Province of Canada was in session from 1854 to November 1857. Elections were held in the Province of Canada in July 1854. Sessions were held in Quebec City until 1856 and then in Toronto....

s of the Province of Canada. He was a Cabinet Minister and was made the Chief Commissioner of Public Works. However, he did not seem to have enjoyed political life and was not too comfortable with the idea of party discipline. He resigned his seat in the early 1850’s. He had one last run at politics in 1863 but was defeated by D’Arcy McGee.

His most notable achievements took place during his tenure with the Montreal Harbour Commission. First appointed in 1850, he became chairman in 1853. He seems to have been consistent in arguing for improved transportation in the broadest sense, even when there might appear to be some short term pain for Montreal merchants. Once again he was often at odds with the establishment. However, that same establishment thought highly enough of him to elect him President of the Montreal Board of Trade.

Possibly John Young’s proudest moment came in 1860. His pet project, the construction of the Victoria Bridge, was done, and he was Host for the formal inauguration ceremonies attended by the Prince of Wales, H.R.H. Albert, son of Queen Victoria.

Disaster

By the early 1860’s Young had retired from any active involvement in his import/export business. He took his wife, Amelia Jane, and 7 of their children back to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 where he believed they would be better educated. In May 1863 the family was returning to Canada on the Allan Steamship Line’s ship, the Anglo Saxon. In dense fog, the ship struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland.

Out of a total 447 passengers and crew, 238 drowned. John Young and his family all survived. His handwritten letter dated May 15 1863 gives a dramatic account of the tragedy.

True to John Young’s combative nature, he was no sooner back in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 than he was fighting with the prominent and powerful Allan family who owned the ill-fated Anglo-Saxon.

Later life and death

The latter part of Young’s life was not easy. While he continued to fight for free trade and improved transportation his financial situation deteriorated. At the time of his life when he was anxious to get some relief – possibly a pension from the Government or Harbour Commission – it appears that his many public disputes with prominent politicians and business leaders caught up with him. No financial help was forthcoming. Instead, Young was given some token appointments, one of them being to represent the Montreal business interests at an International Trade Conference in Australia in 1877. The trip was a difficult one and John became ill. He never recovered and died shortly after his return to Montreal in 1878.

The flourishing Port of Montreal, and its success for the past 150 years are a fine testament to John Young’s work and vision.

His statue was erected in 1908. It is the work of distinguished sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert

Louis-Philippe Hébert

Louis-Philippe Hébert was the son of Théophile Hébert, a farmer, and Julie Bourgeois of Ste-Sophie de Mégantic, Quebec. Louis-Philippe Hébert was a sculptor who sculpted forty monuments, busts, medals and statues in wood, bronze and terra-cotta. He taught at the Conseil des arts et manufactures in...

.